May/June Issue of The East Nashvillian Publishes Online This Sunday

The East Nashvillian is pleased to announce the May/June issue will appear online, in full, this Sunday. Our print edition will hit the streets on Wednesday, so readers can pick it up and take us home old school style, still and always a fine way to enjoy The East Nashvillian. In the past we’ve done this thing the other way around, print first, online after, with some East Side Buzz around the edges each week and between issues. We’re trying something a little different, and we hope you like it.

Jessy Wilson’s Phase Release Party at 3rd and Lindsley on May 5

Be sure to check out our cover story (already up on our website) about the amazing Jessy Wilson, whose debut solo album, Phase, dropped this week. A former member of the duo Muddy Magnolias, Wilson melds soul, hip-hop, rootsy blues, and rock ‘n’ roll into a sonic gumbo of her very own.

If you missed her in-store show at Grimey’s on Thursday, don’t despair; you can catch her album release party for Phase at 3rd and Lindsley Sunday night starting at 8 p.m. The live show will also air on Lightning 100’s Nashville Sunday Night radio broadcast. For ticket info, visit 3rd & Lindsley

Art & Invention Going Out of Business Sale

Courtesy of Art & Invention Gallery

We know. You hate to see those words and to say goodbye to a place and people so central to the cultural life of East Nashville. As reported earlier this week, the much-loved Art & Invention Gallery is closing up shop for good, as owners Meg and Bret MacFadyen retire to their home in Woodbury, Tennessee. But they don’t want to haul all the gallery contents down there with them, so they’re having a great big going out of business art sale. And in true East Nashville style, it’s going to be a progressive sale through the entire month of May. Each week, the discounts will get larger. This weekend, everything in the gallery will be 30 percent off. Next weekend prices will be lowered to 40 percent off, and the following weekend to 50 percent off. By the last week they will be making deals on anything that is left. That includes all display furniture, counters, retail supplies, jewelry, pottery, and art. There are lots of goodies still left to browse, so give yourself plenty of time to find just the right piece of Art & Invention to take home with you.

The gallery will also have some giveaways, contests, and candy. Hours will be extended up until the final closing, Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

Art & Invention Gallery • 1106 Woodland St.

Seasonal Farmers Markets Opening, East Nashville Farmers Market Has a New Location

Hooray for spring and the return of seasonal farmers markets around the city, just in time for strawberry season. The East Nashville Farmers Market will open at a new location and on a different day this year. Look for the weekly market beginning on Tuesday, May 7, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the First Church of the Nazarene at 511 Woodland St., across from East Park. The decision to move from the location at Shelby Bottoms Park, where the market had been held on Wednesdays for the past few years, to the new spot on Woodland, was driven by a desire to make the market more accessible.

“The move was necessary as there was not enough parking to accommodate everyone at Shelby Park, and it was not as accessible to foot traffic and public transit,” market manager Leah Benjamin explains. “We moved the day to Tuesday as the church has services Wednesday night and there would not have been room for everyone,” she continues. “And really we’re just happy to be back near our original location, near the old Turnip Truck parking lot, and just being on the way home for so many and near the park for families will make this location more accessible.”

Over 35 vendors will participate in the market, with many favorites returning for another season, including Delvin Farms, Lost Weekend Farms, Harpeth Moon Farm, Kelley’s Berry Farm, The Peach Truck, and King of Pops popsicles.

“The farmers market is about community and having a great time while you’re there, but the keystone is making local food accessible, and making the location accessible to farmers who take time out from their farming to come and sell to us,” Benjamin explains.

Courtesy of East Nashville Farmers Market

The market is also an important part of the growing farm­-to-table culture here in Nashville. “I see all these chefs around town using these great farm-to-table foods to create these glamorous and gorgeous meals, but they are actually really simple dishes at heart; it’s the freshness of the local ingredients that make them so wonderful. These heirloom varieties, which we have at the market, are just so incredibly gorgeous and delicious, and with just a few simple ingredients anyone can have a beautiful meal, because it’s the fresh food that is key,” Benjamin says.

The East Nashville Farmers Market will be open every Tuesday afternoon and evening, May 7–Oct. 29.

Amqui Station Farmers Market will be held on Sundays at 303 Madison Station Blvd. in Madison, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning May 5. Hip Donelson Farmers Market will be open on Fridays beginning May 3 from 4-7 p.m., at Two Rivers Mansion, 3130 McGavock Pike. Both markets will operate through October. All markets accept SNAP/EBT.

Five Points Street Market, Saturday and Sunday, May 4–5

Cumberland Blues photo courtesy of Five Points Street Market

Lovers of all things vintage and artisan will want to get out to the spring Five Points Street Market. Returning to the location next to Bongo Java East at 107 S. 11th St., the open-air market features an eclectic mix of artisan handmade goods, antiques, and vintage finds of all sorts. Check out funky junk from Nashville Assemblage, indigo shibori work from Cumberland Blues Fiber, witchy apothecary wonders from Wild Bruja, art glass from Looking Glass Craft, and other artisanal and vintage delights beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. For a full list of vendors, see the website at Five Points Street Market.

Riverside Village Pharmacy Celebrates Five Years

Courtesy of Riverside Village Pharmacy

Riverside Village Pharmacy will be celebrating its fifth year doing business in East Nashville with a free community cookout in the pharmacy parking lot at 1406A McGavock Pike on May 11 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.. They’ll be serving up hot dogs, burgers, sodas and chips as a way of saying “thank you” to patients and the community for five years of support, and cheers to many more. There will be raffles for gift certificates to Riverside Village businesses and a Roku television as well.

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Mayor Briley Announces Barnes Fund Recipients for Affordable Housing

The Metro Housing Trust Fund Commission has awarded more than $9.8 million in grants to support the development and rehabilitation of 362 affordable housing units, the Mayor’s office announced this week in a press release. Awards were made to seven organizations based on recommendations from the Barnes Application Review Committee for Organizations . Those receiving Barnes Fund money include Woodbine Community Organization, Renewal House, Affordable Housing Resources, Habitat for Humanity Greater Nashville, Rebuilding Together Nashville, Urban Housing Solutions, and Crossbridge Inc. According the press release from Mayor Briley, the funds will be used to rehabilitate and develop “affordable units for seniors, persons with disabilities, low-income families, veterans, homeless youth, new Americans, ex-offenders and those impacted by substance use or domestic violence.

“As Nashville continues to prosper, we must be diligent about making sure every person and family has the ability to live and thrive in our community. These latest Barnes Fund grants will help us create more housing options for those who need it,” Mayor Briley says in the press release.

The mission of the Barnes Fund is to provide community-wide affordable housing through public-private partnerships. Mayor Briley hopes to invest $10 million in the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing each year. According to the Mayor’s office, since its inception in 2013 the Barnes Fund has distributed more than $27 million to help build more than 1,300 affordable housing units. More information about the Barnes Fund and the Housing Trust Fund Commission can be found here: Barnes Housing Trust Fund

East Branch Library Turns 100 Years Old

Nashville Public Library’s beloved East Branch is turning 100 years old this month and is throwing itself a little centennial birthday party on Wednesday, May 8, from 10 a.m.­ to noon at the 206 Gallatin Ave. branch location. A brief program will begin at 10:30 a.m. with light refreshments and activities to follow.

The East Branch building is the fourth of the original Carnegie libraries built in Nashville. It opened May 8, 1919, one of 2,509 libraries built with funds donated by the businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie between 1883–1929. Having survived floods and tornadoes, East was restored in 2000 to reverse modern renovations made in the 1960s. East Branch Library is a Metro Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. North Branch Library is the only other surviving Carnegie public library building in Nashville.

Nashville Rep Announces Ingram New Works Lineup

Nashville Repertory Theatre has announced the lineup of new plays that will make up their 10th annual Ingram New Works Festival running May 8-18 at Nashville Children’s Theatre. The event, covering two weekends, celebrates new plays developed via the year-round initiative housed at Nashville Rep. This year’s Festival will feature new plays by Ingram New Works Lab Playwrights Lindsay Joelle, Dean Poynor, Riti Sachdeva, and R. Eric Thomas, as well as a new work by Pulitzer Prize Finalist and 2019 Ingram New Works Fellow Sarah Ruhl.

“These five brand new plays are each in their own way grappling with the question of who we are, and maybe more importantly, who do we want to be? These are plays about telling our own stories, finding new connections, and finally finding the places we belong,” Nate Eppler, Director of the Ingram New Works Project says.

This year’s plays cover a wide variety of topics and will take audiences to an array of unusual locations. “Each year we bring extraordinary writers to Nashville, and each year Nashville helps us launch their new works out to the rest of the country. And this year will be no exception,” says Eppler. “You get to see them first, right here in Nashville, before everybody else does.” Performances of the 2019 Ingram New Works Festival begin May 8 at 7 p.m., and continue nightly through Saturday, May 18. Tickets and complete performance schedules are available at Nashville Rep Ingram New Works. Also, check out our earlier East Side Buzz story about the collaboration between the Ingram New Works Festival and Tailgate Brewery to create a signature brew.

Meadery Tasting Room to Open in Late May

Courtesy of Honeytree Meadery

Honeytree Meadery is set for a grand opening of their tasting room at the 918 Woodland St. facility on May 23. Nashville’s first-ever meadery moved into the location last fall, and over the winter quietly began distributing its product to a few local establishments, including The Pharmacy and Peninsula restaurants. Partners Matt Loch and Ross Welbon have been working toward this grand opening day for awhile now.

“It has been long time coming, so we’re both really excited,” says Loch, who handles the day-to-day business operations and brewing. “We’ve been working toward this seriously for the past three years, and it has been a dream of mine for about ten years. When we signed the lease on this location, it was an empty box, and now we’re getting furniture together and getting ready to have people come in and enjoy our product, and hang out in the tasting room and on the patio.”

The permit process took a little longer than expected. “That honestly was one of the longest parts, but everyone at ABC was really helpful. Because we’re Nashville’s first meadery, and we’re not quite beer and we’re not quite wine, there wasn’t really a category for us,” Loch explains. As the website explains “Beer has grains. Wine has grapes. Mead has honey.”

In addition to having regular hours for tasting, Honeytree will be available as an event space. Welbon, who servers as Honeytree’s bee keeper, sales and outreach manager, and assistant brewer, hopes to offer classes to educate people about beekeeping and mead making. “Everyone is worried about bee colony collapse, and part of our mission is to educate people about bees, and their role in the environment,” Loch says.

Tour de Nash Pedals Through Town

It’s officially Bike Month, and the 15th annual Tour de Nash will pedal through town on Saturday, May 11. Nashville’s largest urban bike ride benefits Walk Bike Nashville, an advocacy organization which seeks to “make active transportation an option for Nashvillians, no matter where they live or where they’re trying to go,” according to the organization’s website. The ride brings over 1,500 riders into the streets. Riders can choose from three route options, the City Tour (8 miles), Local Tour (25 miles), or Grand Tour (45 miles) to suit riding style and ability. All routes begin and end at Public Square Park. The Tour’s scenic routes highlight Nashville’s neighborhoods, bikeways and greenways. Rest stops will offer refreshments and bathroom facilities, and basic bicycle maintenance equipment will be available every 10–15 miles. This year’s Tour de Nash is adding a Family Bike Parade, suitable for even the youngest riders. Paid registration includes a t shirt and a meal ticket for the Finish Festival in Public Square Park overlooking the Cumberland River. Rider check-in and packet pickup begins May 11 at 7:30 a.m., and rides depart beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Quick Bits

Two East Side businesses got buzz in the national media recently. The Bookshop saw some love from Forbes for their record-breaking in-store sales during Independent Bookstore Day last Saturday. Check out the great quotes from storeowner and book columnist for TheEast Nashvillian, Joelle Herr. Café Roze caught the eye (and palate) of Condé Nast Traveler recently. See what the diners from a Women-Who-Travel-Meetup have to say about their delicious experience on the East Side.

State legislators, who have the authority to pass legislation blocking local initiatives they don’t like, say they won’t interfere with current Metro initiatives to privatize metered on-street parking. For more see The Tennessean.

Fake rental listings are scamming newcomers into paying rent ahead of arrival for unavailable homes. Because East Nashville is such a desirable location, many of the fake listings are targeting people who want to live there. For more, see Fox 17

Anti LGBTQ legislation, also known as the bathroom bill, is still being considered despite concerns of Nashville businesses. For more see The Nashville Business Journal.

Metro has begun to crackdown on illegal Airbnb hosts by adding personnel to enforce codes. In addition to the number of enforcers going up, would-be hosts will find the cost for permits have also climbed. For more information, see this story in The Tennessean.

Governor Bill Lee is considering signing a bill that would allow Tennessee to remain on daylight savings time. However, such a switch can only be made with federal approval. For more on this see News Channel 5.

While CNN is still touting Nashville as Bachelorette Party Central, CBS Sports offers a different view shaped by bachelorette experiences with the NFL Draft last week.

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We are a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to the uniqueness of East Nashville & Inglewood with a focus on events, charities, businesses and people in the local area. Written by East Nashvillians, for East Nashvillians! Read more . . .